Universal Pneumonia Vaccine in Development

HealthDay News — A pneumonia vaccine under development provides the "most comprehensive coverage" to date and alleviates antimicrobial concerns, according to a study published in Science Advances.

Charles H. Jones, from Abcombi Biosciences Inc, in Buffalo, New York, and colleagues designed a comprehensive pneumonia vaccine and tested it in animal models.

The researchers report that non-covalent colocalization of 2 classes of complementary antigens, 1 to prevent the colonization of the most aggressive S pneumoniae serotypes and another to restrict virulence transition, provides complete vaccine effectiveness in animal subjects and the most comprehensive coverage of disease reported to date.

Tests performed in mice and rabbits showed the new vaccine stimulated an immune response to 72 of the more than 90 known strains of S pneumoniae.

"As a result, the proposed vaccine formulation offers universal pneumococcal disease prevention with the prospect of effectively managing a disease that afflicts tens to hundreds of millions globally," write the authors.

Two study authors are drafting a provisional patent application related to this work, and 2 are co-founders of Abcombi Biosciences, which focuses on vaccine design.